"Turn Back the Clock Night" at Florida Field

GAINESVILLE -- Speaking of the old South, it was the late humorist Lewis Grizzard who best described the type of football game we saw Saturday.

Said Grizzard: “Kinda looked like two mules fighting over a turnip.”

If you care at all about the manly things, about the efficiency that comes from saying “to hell with reading the instructions, I'm just driving nails until it's built,” there was definite beauty in its simplicity. In baseball, the old-timers call it “good ol' country hardball.”

Will Muschamp has his own label for it.

“That's 1980 SEC football right there,” said the Florida Gators coach, who can also call it a win, a 14-6 barometer-testing grinder over the LSU Tigers, who not only had 18 straight regular-season wins, but often won them by beating up teams the way they were manhandled here Saturday.

This, in case you were wondering, is what Will Muschamp meant during the past 18 months when he talked about toughness and “downhill” running and winning on the line of scrimmage when things get so nasty, so sweaty, so loud, normal folks would be heading for a cot.

“From the top down in the organization, we have a strong belief in what we're doing,” said Muschamp, who insisted he'd be happy even with a 41-40 win -- though you have to wonder.

First as an overachieving player at Georgia, then as a high-energy defensive coach, Muschamp built a reputation as a guy who doesn't consider it a real football game if guys aren't reaching for ice and gauze when it's over. Saturday, when his offense had 58 rushing plays and just 12 passes, and when his defense simply overwhelmed LSU, he was totally in his element.

“You saw two very physical teams go at it today on both lines of scrimmage,” he said.

We also saw Florida hold LSU to eight first downs -- five if you toss out the three they got on UF penalties. And with an eight-point lead that seemed like 80, we also saw the Gators run the ball on their last 25 plays from scrimmage.

“I know you guys like all these points being scored, but the quarterback won't make it through the season in our league,” Muschamp said.

Will a workhorse running back? We'll see, because it appears DeLand product Mike Gillislee is on his way to one of two things: Either long-awaited college football stardom, or a series of ice baths. How rough-and-tumble was his Saturday at Florida Field? Try these old-school numbers: 34 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns, zero runs for a loss of yardage, zero runs longer than 12 yards.

“I just kept doing what I'm told to do,” Gillislee said. “We're trained to keep fighting and never give up.”

Which is just what Muschamp has preached and practiced since first taking the UF job.

“I'll take Gilly over anybody,” Muschamp said. “He's a Will Muschamp guy. Doesn't ever say anything, just does what we ask. He's a ‘program guy.' He's a great example for everybody on our football team.”

Just like Muschamp is a good example of what can happen if you seemingly will it to happen. Through all of last year's disappointments, and right through this year's season-opener, when a sluggish win over Bowling Green hinted at something less than a banner year, he kept pounding nails and insisting you'd like the finished product.

Well, except they're far from finished, of course.

“Obviously, it's easy to see the improvements we've made,” Muschamp said. “But as you continue to climb the mountain, it gets more dangerous.”